Abstract

A RANDOMISED SINGLE BLIND CONTROLLED PILOT STUDY OF ASSESSING THE USEFULNESS OF MORINGA OLEIFERA 30CH IN THE MANAGEMENT OF MALNUTRITION IN CHILDREN OF 3-10 YEARS OF AGE

John G. Jaysee*, Jain Tarkeshwar and Sharma Vanija

Abstract

Malnutrition is a cause of serious concern globally with more children falling prey to malnourishment each year. It is the most wide spread condition affecting the health of children. Malnutrition is estimated to contribute to more than one third of all child deaths. Women, infants, children and adolescents are at particular risk of malnutrition. Moringa is a very simple and readily available solution to the problem of malnutrition due to its rich nutritional properties which is established and proved through various researches. Due to nutritional abundance it is worldwide included in various nutritional programmes worldwide to combat malnutrition, but this drug is not introduced in homoeopathy due to lack of research so, A Single-blind Randomised Placebo Controlled Pilot study was an attempt to assess the usefulness of Moringa oleifera in management of malnutrition in children. Study Design: Method: Forty patients in total were enrolled in the study those meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria, where 20 patients were allocated to moringa group and 20 patients to control group with dietary approach for both group. Average weight improvement in both group assessed with world health organization health references chart after a study period of three month. Results: The statistical technique used was- ‗Paired t-test‘ and ‗Independent t-test‘. An independent t- test was conducted to compare the improvement in average weight of children after intervention through Moringa oleifera and placebo. The value of test statistics t-shows that there was not significant (p > .001) difference in weight improvement by Moringa oleifera (M =21.22, SD = 4.67) as compared to Active placebo (M = 19.26, SD = 3.38), t (34) = -1.45, p =.157. It accept null hypothesis that Moringa Oleifera and Active placeboboth has similar effect in improving malnutrition condition. Conclusion: This single-blind, randomised placebo controlled pilot trial provides evidence to support the nutritional effect of Moringa oleifera in improving the malnourished condition in children. But the post treatment mean difference between Moringa oleifera and Active Placebo groups is not much large enough to establish the significant role of Moringa oleifera in comparison to active placebo statistically, so the results need to be validated in a multicentric double-blind randomised controlled trial on a large scale.

Keywords: Malnutrition, WHO Growth Reference Chart, Weight for Age, Moringa oleifera, Homoeopathy, Randomised controlled trial, Pilot study.